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Nine ways to make Project Life cheaper


I’m enjoying making my Project Life album so much, but it’s so easy to spend masses of money on inserts, embellishments and all the other (admittedly gorgeous) bits and bobs. So I thought I’d share some tips I’ve found for lessening the cost of your PL addiction:

  • Table decorations – I found adorable rose pink shiny hearts for £1 in the party section of my local Tesco.
  • Glitter paper – most supermarkets sell glitter paper that you can punch into embellishments in their kids section. Beware however – it’s cheaper, but it’s not necessarily high quality and you could well end up with glitter all over your album.
  • Gold stars – Most stationers sell these in sheets for teachers, and they cost about 50p – far cheaper than “official” scrapbooking ones.
  • Save your scraps - Every time you wrap a present, put the left over bits of paper in a box to create tags and embellishments.
  • Birthday & Christmas cards – Cards received from other people often end up in the bin, but you can easily create your own ephemera using a simple punch stamp or a sharp pair of scissors.
  • Old clothes – If they’re not even good enough for the charity shop, make sure to pull off any buttons or other detailing before you throw your old clothes away. Even if they’re not very special-looking a blast with a can of spraypaint or the liberal application of glitter can turn them into something wonderful!
  • Ribbon paperclips – I think those coloured paperclips with ribbon and paper toppers are adorable… but there’s no reason why you shouldn’t make your own! Just fold a piece of paper in two, tuck the fold through the top of the clip and push the ends through the loop to make a ribbon clip, or cut or punch shapes out of card and stick to the top.
  • Promo materials – Lots of places give out stickers and postcards for free to promote themselves. Keep your eyes open for bright or interestingly coloured things that can be punched or trimmed to create embellishments. 
  • Online! - There are loads of places you can find free printables online – check out my scrapbooking Pinterest board for a few ideas. Tomorrow I’ll be listing places you can find more than 300 free scrapbooking printables, so make sure you come back then!
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